District · Costa Rica
Merced
District in San José, Costa Rica. Official statistics compared with San José and the whole country, and REAL NOW market prices.
Population
15,804
INEC estimate, 2022 #95 of 487
Crimes per 1,000 residents
82.3
1,300 reports in 12 months -4.2% #3 of 487
Homicides
13
last 12 months · previous 12: 19
Official land value
US$243/m²
median of urban residential zones #70 of 441
Median sale price per m²
PRO
apartments and houses
Official statistics
Population, housing and safety
Each figure next to the parent region and the country, so you can tell whether it stands out.
Population and housing
| MercedDistrict | San JoséCanton | Costa RicaCountry | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 15,804 | 352,381 | 5,044,197 |
| Area, km² | 2.2 | 44.6 | 51,146.6 |
| Density per km² | 7,184 | 7,897 | 99 |
| Population growth, a year | 2.3% | 1.8% | 1.4% |
| Dwellings | 5,606 | 116,872 | 1,836,035 |
| Unoccupied dwellings | 9.5% | 4.8% | 11.7% |
| Persons per occupied dwelling | 3.12 | 3.16 | 3.10 |
Source: INEC Costa Rica, 2022 estimate
Crime, last 12 closed months
2025-10 – 2026-09 · per 1,000 residents of the 2022 estimate
| MercedDistrict | San JoséCanton | Costa RicaCountry | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All reported crimes | 1,300 | 7,979 | 36,302 |
| Per 1,000 residents | 82.26 | 22.64 | 7.20 |
| Change vs previous 12 months | -4.2% | -4.8% | -8.0% |
| Homicides | 13 | 103 | 775 |
| Reported crimes in 2024homicides: 12 | 1,480 | 8,966 | 43,137 |
| Reported crimes in 2025homicides: 18 | 1,325 | 8,326 | 38,780 |
Source: OIJ – Poder Judicial de Costa Rica (CC BY 4.0)
Crime by type
Reports to the OIJ in this region, last 12 closed months, and the monthly history.
| Type | 12 months | Per 1,000 | vs prior 12 m | Country, per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assault and mugging | 534 | 33.79 | +16.6% | 1.51 |
| Theft | 609 | 38.53 | -7.7% | 2.40 |
| Break-ins | 36 | 2.28 | -72.9% | 1.53 |
| Theft from vehicles | 65 | 4.11 | +20.4% | 0.73 |
| Vehicle theft | 43 | 2.72 | +30.3% | 0.87 |
| Homicide | 13 | 0.82 | -31.6% | 0.15 |
Source: OIJ – Poder Judicial de Costa Rica (CC BY 4.0)
Land value
Official land value
What the Ministry of Finance uses as the reference value of land for property tax, by homogeneous zone. A fiscal reference, not an appraisal.
Urban residential zones
12 zones in this region
| MercedDistrict | San JoséCanton | Costa RicaCountry | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median per m², US$ | US$243 | US$299 | US$177 |
| Median per m², colones | ₡110,000 | ₡135,000 | ₡80,000 |
Source: ONT – Ministerio de Hacienda. Fiscal reference value, not an appraisal.
How the zones are spread
Number of urban residential zones by value, US$ per m²
0
0
0
2
3
4
0
1
2
0–2525–5050–100100–150150–200200–300300–500500–10001000+
Converted at 452.13 colones per US dollar (2026-09).
Source: ONT – Ministerio de Hacienda. Fiscal reference value, not an appraisal.
Zones in this district
Highest value first; 31 zones in total.
| Zone | Code | Type | Colones per m² | US$ per m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOULEVARD AVENIDA CENTRAL | U01 | urban · commercial | ₡1,300,000 | US$2,875 |
| BANCO NACIONAL COSTA RICA | U02 | urban · commercial | ₡1,000,000 | US$2,212 |
| TORRES PASEO COLON | U29 | urban · residential | ₡1,000,000 | US$2,212 |
| PLAZA ROFAS | U04 | urban · commercial | ₡700,000 | US$1,548 |
| CENTRO COMERCIAL MASXMENOS | U12 | urban · commercial | ₡650,000 | US$1,438 |
| PASEO COLON | U09 | urban · commercial | ₡650,000 | US$1,438 |
| MERCADO COCA COLA | U05 | urban · commercial | ₡590,000 | US$1,305 |
| CONDOMINIO AVENIDA 9 | U30 | urban · residential | ₡500,000 | US$1,106 |
| TERMINAL EL ATLANTICO | U03 | urban · commercial | ₡400,000 | US$885 |
| ESCUELA JUAN RAFAEL MORA | U11 | urban · commercial | ₡360,000 | US$796 |
| MERCADO BORBON | U06 | urban · commercial | ₡330,000 | US$730 |
| CONDADO DEL PARQUE | U26 | urban · residential | ₡290,000 | US$641 |
| MERCADO PASO DE LA VACA | U07 | urban · commercial | ₡270,000 | US$597 |
| CALLE VEINTE | U10 | urban · commercial | ₡255,000 | US$564 |
| PARQUE REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR | U13 | urban · commercial | ₡230,000 | US$509 |
| DEFENSORIA DE LOS HABITANTES | U20 | urban · commercial | ₡215,000 | US$476 |
| ESCUELA REPUBLICA ARGENTINA | U21 | urban · commercial | ₡195,000 | US$431 |
| LICEO DE SAN JOSE | U19 | urban · residential | ₡135,000 | US$299 |
| RESIDENCIAL NUEVO MEXICO | U18 | urban · residential | ₡130,000 | US$288 |
| ESCUELA COSTA RICA | U17 | urban · commercial | ₡120,000 | US$265 |
| BARRIO MEXICO | U22 | urban · residential | ₡120,000 | US$265 |
| PITAHAYA | U15/U28 | mixed urban · residential | ₡100,000 | US$221 |
| BAJOS DE LA UNION COMERCIAL | U23 | urban · commercial | ₡90,000 | US$199 |
| FIDEL TRISTAN | U14 | urban · residential | ₡85,000 | US$188 |
| FLORIDA NORTE | U25 | urban · residential | ₡80,000 | US$177 |
| RINCON CUBILLOS | U16 | urban · residential | ₡75,000 | US$166 |
| LOS CIPRESES - RIO TORRES | R31/U31 | rural-urban · residential | ₡60,000 | US$133 |
| BAJOS DE LA UNION | U27 | urban · residential | ₡50,000 | US$111 |
| IGLESIAS FLORES | U24 | urban · residential | ₡50,000 | US$111 |
| MUSEO DE LOS NIÑOS | U08 | urban | ₡42,000 | US$93 |
| NUCLEO SABANA | U32 | urban | ₡18,000 | US$40 |
Source: ONT – Ministerio de Hacienda. Fiscal reference value, not an appraisal.
Market
Prices, rent and yield
Medians over the aggregated public offer seen in the last 30 days. List prices, not closed sales.
Methodology
Sources and methodology
Official statistics
- Population, dwellings, density and growth: INEC Costa Rica, 2022 estimate by district. Unoccupied share = unoccupied dwellings divided by all dwellings.
- Crimes: reports to the OIJ of assault, theft, break-ins, vehicle theft, theft from vehicles and homicide, summed over the last 12 closed months (2025-10 to 2026-09). The rate per 1,000 residents uses the 2022 population; the trend compares with the previous 12 months and is shown only when that window has at least 10 cases.
- Land value: ONT (Ministerio de Hacienda) homogeneous-zone values for urban residential zones. It is a fiscal reference value, not an appraisal and not the current value of any property. Median across zones, not weighted by area.
REAL NOW market metrics
- Sale: median asking price per m² of apartments and houses for sale seen in the last 30 days in the aggregated public offer, with the same outlier bounds as Analytics. List prices, not closed sales.
- Confidence: solid = 30 or more listings, preliminary = 15 to 29; below 15 nothing is published.
- Rent and gross yield: REAL NOW rent benchmarks, median monthly rent of homes; gross yield = rent × 12 ÷ sale price of the same cell, published only between 3 and 12 percent. Available by province or department and by municipality or canton.
Sources: INEC Costa Rica (2022 estimate) · OIJ – Poder Judicial de Costa Rica (CC BY 4.0) · ONT – Ministerio de Hacienda (fiscal reference value, not an appraisal) · REAL NOW aggregated public offer.